Names In The News

Angels P ERVIN SANTANA has returned to Proformance Baseball, the firm that represented him since he was an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in '00. Santana had left Proformance for Wasserman Media Group in June. Proformance MLB agents JAY ALOU and BEAN STRINGFELLOW will represent him (Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal)....CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman reported on his Twitter feed that Padres SS EVERTH CABRERA has signed with agent SCOTT BORAS. Cabrera, Dodgers LF SHANE VICTORINO, Brewers CF NYJER MORGAN and A's LF JONNY GOMES have now left Aces Inc. since the agency came under scrutiny for links to PEDs (TWITTER.com, 10/30). The S.F. Chronicle's Susan Slusser reported on Twitter that Gomes switched to MVP Sports Group, headed by agent DAN LOZANO (TWITTER.com, 10/29).

ENGINEERING ISSUES: In Atlanta, Jeff Schultz wrote new Clemson AD DAN RADAKOVICH "won't have to sell a ticket or plead with donors at Clemson, which is what he had to do" while AD at Georgia Tech. The "pressure for victories and the chase for dollars is greater than ever in college athletes ... and right now Tech just isn't all that attractive." While Radakovich "denies also that the Tech AD position is a 'steppingstone' job, relative to others in major college athletics, that's basically what he just affirmed by leaving one ACC job for another, just two hours up the interstate." When asked about the challenges of running athletics at GT, Radakovich said, "Always looking at ways to get people to consistently come to the stadium and the venues. When we're winning, attendance is good. When we're OK, attendance is OK. When we're not winning, attendance falls. The challenge is to create a bigger core. We tried a lot of things to get that to happen" (AJC.com, 10/30).
PLAYING POLITICS: In Edmonton, Keith Gerein reports Alberta Chief Electoral Officer BRIAN FJELDHEIM has "decided to launch an investigation into the legality of donations made to the Progressive Conservatives" by Oilers Owner DARYL KATZ, his family and business associates during the spring election. The Progressive Conservatives' statement said that Katz, three family members, his company and execs with the Katz Group "collectively donated $300,000 to the party during the campaign" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 10/31)....Suns Managing Partner ROBERT SARVER has "donated to the campaign for a ballot measure asking voters to get rid of partisan primaries." Arizona state campaign finance records show that Sarver "gave $10,000 to the 'Yes on Proposition 121' campaign" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/30)....Ducks Hockey Operations Consultant SCOTT NIEDERMAYER is "lending his voice to the opposition of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project in Western Canada." He said, "If an accident were ever to happen in a place like that, or any of the rivers or streams it crosses, it would have some pretty bad consequences not only for the people up there that rely on the area for their jobs but on the environment in general" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 10/30).

NAMES: Univ. of Louisville men's basketball coach RICK PITINO has "agreed to a five-year contract extension" that will keep him at the school through the '22 season. His $3.9M base salary "remains the same, but he will earn a $600,000 retention bonus every other year" from '14 to '22. The deal "includes incentives" for being chosen AP national coach of the year ($100,000) and winning the Big East Conference regular-season title ($50,000) (ESPN.com, 10/30)....Former Sabres Owner TOM GOLISANO is the philanthropist behind a $20M challenge grant for a new Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, the "largest single gift ever in the 18-year history of the hospital" (NAPLESNEWS.com, 10/30)....The Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst Mark H McCormack Department of Sports Management on Nov. 13 will host the event “Covering the Bases -- An Evening with our GMs." Indians GM CHRIS ANTONETTI, Red Sox GM BEN CHERINGTON and Pirates GM NEAL HUNTINGTON will be on hand. The event will be moderated by ESPN Boston’s MIKE REISS (UMass)….Titans QB JAKE LOCKER yesterday taught Nashville high school kids a new educational and video game curriculum called Financial Football. The game is an initiative between Visa, the NFL and the NFLPA (AP, 10/30)….Late entertainers BOB HOPE, BING CROSBY and DINAH SHORE yesterday were inducted into the Southern California Golf Association Hall of Fame (SCGA)….The NBA Kings and G FRANCISCO GARCIA have settled their product liability lawsuits against Ledraplastic S.p.a after an exercise ball exploded and seriously injured Garcia in October ’09 (SACBEE.com, 10/31).